Virtual Gourmet

NEWSLETTER
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DINING AROUND BIG D
by John Mariani

Two veteran chef/restaurateurs and one deluxe hotel in Dallas have in recent months added measurably to the city’s dining scene, which has been lagging for the past couple of years. The most encouraging news is that the Wyndham Anatole Hotel (2201 Stemmons Freeway; 214-748-1200) has acquired a chef of exceptional talent and finesse in David McMillan, who brings the hotel’s dining room, Nana, to the same culinary altitude as its prospect on the 27th floor overlooking Dallas.

Nana has a long history of influence on Dallas’ gastronomy since opening back in 1978, when local food consultant Lindsay Greer pioneered what came to be known as “New Texas Cuisine” at the restaurant, and the room has always had a very strong wine program. The romance of its panoramic setting is an obvious lure for celebrants--with quite a few marriage proposals clinched over Champagne here--and the famously naughty 1881 portrait of a brazen nude named Nana [PG-13 version shown above] has been in place above the bar here since the restaurant opened.

Recent renovations have changed the decor of what Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Dotty Griffith described as “Denver bordello” into a sleek, modern dining room decked out with superb Asian artwork that includes a 300-year-old gilded Buddha, cloisonné vases, and nine stunning jade horses, all from the private collection of Margaret and Trammel Crow. The tables are regally set with Versace and Rosenthal china, the silverware and napery heavy, and the array of wineglasses very fine. Wine decanters sit in silver holders, as does good bread and caviar by the ounce. nand in

Nana had lost much of its luster under a previous chef who tried too hard to dazzle his guests by insisting that more is more. California-born MacMillan, most recently at The Peninsular Hotel in Beverly Hills, is testament to the power of focusing one’s taste on a central ingredient to be complemented, not distracted, by what surrounds it, obvious in a dish of sea scallops seared and sautéed to retain all their creamy succulence, then enhanced with a corn cake, smoked bacon, and mache, with a dotting of truffles. Equally impressive is a very lightly fried lobster in a fragile crust of chestnut flour, served with an herbed scallion salad and ginger vinaigrette.

Sonoma foie gras is lavished with red currants and a caramel sauce cut with citrus, and McMillan’s Rocky Mountain cèpe soup with fried celery root, lemon and parsley is an absolute triumph of creaminess, woodsiness, and texture. Peekytoe crab, fennel, and pepper salad with a saffron aïoli was compromised one evening by a crabmeat that was a tad fishy smelling.

Main courses follow closely the refinement of his appetizers. Thus, veal tenderloin with cèpes had a rich delicacy of flavor touched with a Grenache reduction and the sweetness of prunes, accompanied by a charming summer truffle pudding. Wild striped bass was very good, with a fennel purée, warm heirloom tomatoes and aged sherry vinegar--a dish where the fish was clearly the star. Arctic char on the other hand had a bit too much going on the plate--purple beans, Serrano ham, parsley, herb salad, and a chanterelle broth that just skirted overwhelming the fish. Rack of Sika elk was a delight, juicy and flavorful, with whole grain mustard spaetzle, fried pecans, orange-cumin carrots and a dried blueberry sauce (though this last dressing was unnecessary).

The winelist at Nana, overseen by Fabian Hernandez, is strongest in French and California bottlings (sadly, no Texan labels to try), and there’s plenty to choose among, from an astounding 14 selections from Domaine Romanée-Conti to four of Mouton-Rothschild. There’s an admirable choice of half-bottles and big formats, and an entire page of wines by the glass, including 25 dessert wines. Prices are not too bad, considering the richness of the list. On some very top wines prices are even generous: Peter Michael "Belle Côte" '00 Chardonnay runs $120 in the store, only $150 here; on others it's a stiff mark-up, e.g., Bernardus Marinus '97 retails at about $40, but at Nana it's $120. Also, there's very little on the list under $50.

Desserts are wonderful at Nana, especially the baba au rhum with cherries, plums and spiced rum, and there was a delectable and crisp chocolate-hazelnut and espresso mousse cake with brittle and coffee sauce that ranks with the best sweets in town.

The waitstaff couldn’t be nicer, but that also means frequent intrusions and very long-winded spiels about dishes already described at length on the menu.

Prices for appetizers at Nana run $8-$19, but the entrees leap to heights reached by very few contemporary dining rooms in the U.S, ranging from $34-$45; ironically, the 7-course tasting menu at $80 (with wines $125) is a steal.

Kent Rathbun’s last project three years ago, Abacus, was a glam-palace with plenty of buzz and posh cuisine that went way over the top in terms of complexity and presentation. I liked it but didn’t love it, and the place had the ring (a deafening ring) of a place where people came to show off rather than dine. Now, with his new place, Jasper’s (7161 Bishop Road; 469-229-9111 ) he could hardly have gone in more of an opposite direction and done so with a panache that makes the food seem truer to the spirit of “New Texas Cuisine” than anything I’ve tasted in a long time. He actually calls his cooking "Gourmet Backyard Cuisine," which hints at the refinement of items like barbecued pork with creamed bourbon corn and scallion-laced twice-baked potatoes. I don't know how many Texas backyards can handle a three-cheese focaccia as well as chef Aaron Staudenmaier does here, but everyone could take a lesson from his salt-crusted prime rib with French onion jus and baby baked potatoes. The Gouda-rich mac-and-cheese is addictive, as are the hand-cut French fries, and you end off here in the same big way, with homestyle desserts and ice creams to send you reeling. Appetizers run $5-$12, entrees $18-$29. The winelist is pretty short but well selected, with plenty of selections under $40.

Meanwhile, Monica Greene, who opened one of the best Mexican restaurants in America--Ciudad--three years back, has downscaled with Pegaso (1302 Main St.; 214-742-7777), which, as you read this, is about to open for dinner with a more extensive menu than I tried when it was only open for breakfast and lunch. Now, you might think Dallas has scores of terrific, authentic Mexican restaurants, but, aside from Ciudad and a couple of others that include Greene’s own Monica’s Aca y Alla, Tex-Mex rules here as its own much loved genre.

You will certainly find tacos and enchiladas on the menu at Pegaso, and they are very, very good. But the food is lighter, better seasoned, more delicate and complex here than elsewhere around the city. The mahogany-colored black beans (not refried mashed red beans), the various bright salsas, and the use of white, not yellow, cheese makes a considerable difference. The chicken and tomatillo enchiladas were terrific at lunch, as was the torta de tinga sandwich stuffed with spicy chicken, and a delicious salad with strips of beef called ropa vieja. If this preliminary excursion revealed anything, it’s that getting to Pegaso for dinner should be a priority for anyone interested in really good Mexican cooking.

I cannot leave this report on new venues without mentioning the splendid brunch at had at one of my favorite restaurants in Dallas, La Duni (4620 McKinney Ave.; 214-520-7300; www.laduni.com), which opened two years ago with the avowed purpose of showing this city mad about Tex-Mex that there are other food cultures in Latin American well worth savoring. The owners, Espartaco and Duni Borga (shown below)--he’s from Spain, she’s from Colombia--are lovely people, and it shows in their cooking, which I consider some of the best in the west-- and at rock bottom prices too. laduni

The place is very pretty, casual but not in the least barebones, and it draws a crowd on locals who dress down to dress up (great fitting jeans, linen blouses, bright tank tops, boots and open-toed high heels), and the staff could not be more amiable to a clientele clearly familiar to them. For Duni’s tall meringue-topped cakes alone, La Duni is worth a detour.

Someone once said, “I’m sure there are some perfectly nice people who go to brunch, but I don’t want to know them,” which is a bit harsh (but funny), and I understand the sentiment. Brunch is a silly idea, mixing up two meals that are markedly and rightly distinct. Nevertheless brunch at La Duni shows the place off as well as at lunch or dinner, when many of the same items are available, starting with scrumptious muffins, pecan buns, and light popovers. All the egg dishes are as perfectly made as you could ever want, from the arepas criollas, topped with cheese, ham and soft scrambled eggs (one learns that if you choose a thick arepa it is Venezuelan style; if thin, it’s Colombian). Chilaquiles--crispy tortilla strips--are topped with asadero and Gruyère cheeses, red or green salsa, cream and black beans, while the huevos rancheros here are textbook perfect. You should also try the torta cubana--a powerfully stuffed variation in which a French baguette can barely contain the tomatoes, cheese, honey ham, roasted pork loin, pickles, mayo and mustard that fills it. Then end off with one of the great desserts in America--the quattro leches cake--which adds one sweetened milk to three others, something so special it’s uniquely hers and hers alone.

Prices at La Duni for brunch run from $6.95 to $16.95. Have one of their fruit drinks to go with the food. They are marvelously refreshing and sweet and go down well with brunch.

Both The Monkey Bar in the Hotel Elysée (60 E. 54^th St.; 212-838-2600; www.theglaziergroup.com ) and the restaurant at the Carlyle Hotel (35 E. 76^th St.; 212-744-1600; www.thecarlyle.com ) both have long and legendary histories dating back to a time when such places were called “supper clubs,” where men might show up in tuxedoes and women in stoles, and where Manhattan and Martini drinkers far outpaced winedrinkers. Both have been refurbished in recent years but retain much of the swank that made them major stops on the Broadway and Hollywood celebrity circuit.

Indeed, The Monkey Bar retains many of the evocative old black-and-white Hollywood photos and monkey-themed murals, along with a swank two-tiered décor that will remind you of a transatlantic oceanliner circa 1935. Over the past half-dozen years the restaurant has had frequent changes of chefs, the latest of whom, David Walzog, is executive chef for the Glazier Group that also runs Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse in Grand Central Terminal and the Strip House (also a steakhouse) on East 12^th Street. Thus the new name: The Steakhouse at Monkey Bar. Walzog has always been a fine chef, but he’s also managed to turn steakhouse fare towards a higher standard by appending the meats with wondrous side dishes like his potato-and-cheese gratin, his crispy potatoes cooked in goose fat, and his black truffle creamed spinach. No one is now buying better beef than he is, the very best Prime available, and his grill men, Cenovio Canalizo and Vincent Flauto, never make mistakes in the cooking of the beef. Lamb chops are equally as delicious, with a double cut t-bone available at $32.50, and a “cut of the night,” including a Kobe beef burger, a porterhouse, and on Saturday Prime rib—all at a remarkable $20. There are also several sauces offered with your choice, including Stilton and Bordelaise.

For starters go with the lump crab cake with a minced vegetable tartar sauce or the simple jumbo shrimp cocktail with marinated cucumbers. Walzog was one of the first to do a foie gras torchon in New York, here served with a toasted baguette. For dessert you may want to try Tomas Paulino’s baked Alaska for old times’ sake, though the warm chocolate tart, coconut crème brûlée, and Key lime pie are much better.

Dumonet is now the name of the renovated restaurant at the Carlyle, which breaks little new ground for excitement but plies a very classic style enlivened by the talent of chef Jean-Louis Dumonet, who used to be at Trois Jean. In this space I recently praised his smaller menu in the Café Carlyle next door, and now he is able to stretch his wings a bit in a dining room that has been lightened considerably from its previous weathered posh. It still tends to draw a crowd that—how does one put this politely?—can remember when the Daily News cost a nickel and New York had only one airport (so can I). And they do dress. One does not come to the Carlyle in a New York Yankees pullover.

The new decor, by Thierry Despont, is still very genteel, with chocolate brown walls, an art deco-style carpet, English hunting prints, an Italian portrait of a girl in red, and a huge vase of flowers. The menu is categorized by price--$14 for appetizers (with a few supplements), entrees at $36 (with supplements), with plats du jour at $32. There is also a two-course dinner at $36 and three courses at $42, which makes this a delightful place to splurge without spending too much. Starters lead off with sweetbreads and artichokes sautéed with a touch of cumin and mixed greens and go on to list smoked herring fillets with warm potato salad, classic quenelles de brochet with lobster sauce, and a selection of “in season” items—fresh morels when I visited, including a baked duck egg en cocotte and risotto with fava beans and morels.

I was not impressed by a special of small sole (here called céteaux), which hadn’t nearly the flavor of the larger, fatter Dover sole (also on the menu). More delicious in a hearty, bourgeois way was a plate of slowly cooked veal cheeks with baby carrots and onions. Skate wine was poached in the classic manner, with lemon and caper brown butter sauce. You get a side order with each entrée, and you get to choose which one from a list of freshly cut French fries, young peas in casserole, a cassolette of green lentils, and a gratin dauphinois.

For dessert the captain recommends the soufflés in advance and I do too. Otherwise the cherry clafoutis with crushed rhubarb is very good.

Still cute but aging vegan Paul McCartney took out a full-page add that accuses KFC for its “cruelty to chickens.”

The flagellant, headline-seeking, DC-based
Center for Science in the Public Interest
reported that the 14-ounce Haagen-Daz Mint
Chip Dazzler three-scoop sundae “is like
sitting down to a t-bone steak and baked
potato with sour cream.” (July 24, 2003).

* On Sept. 12, 29, Oct. 26 and Nov. 9 chef Christine Zambito of the Sanderling Resort on the Outer Banks, NC, will be holding demo cooking classes,$60 pp, limited to 20 guests. Call 252-449-6654.

* Chef Sylvain Portay of The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco now offers Pre-Theatre Menu at $59. Chef Braddly Bennick also offers a 3-Course Lunch Menu in The Terrace for $19.95. Call 415-773-6168.

* Spanish food and wine authority Gerry Dawes will lead a gastronomic tour of Spain from Oct. 16- Oct. 27, visiting Madrid, Segovia, Ribera del Duero, Burgos, La Rioja, Bilbao, The Basque Country, San Sebastián, Olite, and Barcelona. Meals will be in regional cuisine restaurants, at least two or three Michelin three- , two- , and one-star places; and at some wineries. Cost is $3,500 (without airfare) pp. For info call (845) 368-3486; e-mail: gerrydawes@aol.com

* Steinway and Wőlffer Estate are collaborating on an educational series to be conducted at the winery in Sagaponack, Long Island, NY, this August. Aug. 7: "Introduction to Piano Building and Winemaking”; Aug.14: “Styles”; Aug. 21, the final evening, will present the piano and wine as “Accompaniments.”

* On Aug. 23 Wine Spectator will host the Long Island Wine Classic at the Hampton Classic (240 Snake Hollow Rd.; Bridgehampton, NY), presented by Long Island Wine Council & Hampton Classic Horse Show, Inc., to benefit eastern Long Island hospitals. Chefs inclue Jason Weiner, Almond, Bridgehampton; Tom Schaudel, Cool Fish, Syosett; James Carpenter, Della Femina, East Hampton; Anthony Silvestri, East by Northeast, Montauk; Omar Bueso, H2O Seafood Grill, Smithtown; Andrew Engle, The Laundry, East Hampton; Guy Ruege, Mirabelle, St. James; John Randazzo, Payard Patisserie & Bistro, Manhasset; Steven De Bruyn, Polo Restaurant, Garden City; Craig Jermin, Tellers, Islip; Todd Jacobs, Tierra Mar, Westhampton Beach, and Christian Mir, Stone Creek Inn, East Quogue; Didier Virot, Aix; Brian Bistrong and Bill Yosses, Citarella The Restaurant; Christian Albin, The Four Seasons Restaurant, and Bruce Beaty, Le Madeleine. Master of ceremonies will be (yours truly) Wine Spectator restaurant columnist John Mariani. The event begins with a Grand Tasting paired with more than 100 Long Island wines from 28 Long Island wineries, followed by a gourmet dinner and live auction. $400 for Dinner & Grand Tasting package; $150 for the Grand Tasting only. Visit www.liwineclassic.com or call 631-537-3177.

John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Diversion and the Harper Collection. He is author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman), The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink (Broadway), and, with his wife Galina, the award-winning new Italian-American Cookbook (Harvard Common Press). To purchase from amazon.com, click on the image below.